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I'm Drunk & Currently In China (From So. California), Let's Talk...

HappyDude20

HappyDude20

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jul 13, 2008
3,688
1,479
Los Angeles, Ca
So as a few of you may currently know, (2 of you), i'm currently in an Xingtai, China. Please Google it. Please.

This random city that you've most likely never Googled, is most than 3 hours south away from Beijing via train ride south. This city literally has no more than 15 foreigners in this entire city, consisting of more than 6 million people in Xingtai...

Help.

I've moved here to Xingtai on an entire whim. About a month and a few weeks ago I decided to come to Beijing, uncertain of what the future would hold. Since four weeks ago, my best friend and I have moved from a random hotel without heating conditioning, to a lavish mansion with WiFi on two out of 3 floors, with transportation provided and ALL of housing provided.

Though the city is Mansion-ish,
the city itself is a bit mundane, at least, compared to Southern Californ-ie ways.

The city is nice, with a KFC (5 miles away) in the center of the city, with no McDonalds within 30 miles away ( by train, or expensive train away ($7 dollars away), but are enjoying it nonetheless.)

We've setttled for the China experience, purchasiing vegetables and fruits on a daily basis, totalting no more than $5 a day..with amazingly good food.

I've purchased a VPN service, allowing me to access FaceBook and YouTube, within these Fire-walled walls. "FreeDur."

Nevertheless. Am a bit drunk, having accessed MacRumors every day, focusing on the main page, iPod Touch, iPhone, ATV2, OSX Lion, Community pages...within the past few weeks,missing the other pages, i'd normally visit back home in SoCal. Fortunately i'll be back home by late May.

Thought is important to to say hello, to the forum i've written upon for the past few years.

Nevertheless, hello.

And i'll regret this thread (From Xingtai, China) in the morning....
 
Well, #1 stay safe. You're off the beaten path as they say ... it can make for some great times if you meet cool people ... I've traveled the smaller towns of Russia, Hungary, Czech and Slovak Republics over the years ... some great memories ... a few drunks ones too :)

What made you want to travel to China in the first place, and then to the smaller city?

Happy Travels!
 
This has all the makings of a HappyDude train wreck. I'm subscribing to this thread!
 
jav6454 said:
Will you remember this thread in the morning?
Click to expand...

Yes, sadly. (or, happily),
we'll see. :p


WillEH said:
Naughty, breaking Chinese law :p
Click to expand...

***** Chinese law. I'm using a VPN service from now on. I have bigger matters at hand, like finding ways to spend my weekends not consisting of playing ping pong (seriously) and finding girls (barring the language barrier).

entatlrg said:
Well, #1 stay safe. You're off the beaten path as they say ... it can make for some great times if you meet cool people ... I've traveled the smaller towns of Russia, Hungary, Czech and Slovak Republics over the years ... some great memories ... a few drunks ones too :)

What made you want to travel to China in the first place, and then to the smaller city?

Happy Travels!
Click to expand...

Thank you, sincerely.

Truth be told, I had not idea what to expect. I began a thread here in the community section of MacRumors in early January titled, "Would You Get Up & Fly Away?," which led me to jump abroad on March 1st.

I've now been abroad for a month, and am only considering it to be amazing, considering my best friend is alongside with me for the entire ride.

We've a month to go, with each day presenting something new. From walking about random shops, or streets.. I'm enjoying it all.

Plymouthbreezer said:
Great thread.

Stay safe. Post pictures? :)
Click to expand...

I did the dumbest thing this past Friday, I washed my Samsung camera in the wash..but still have my Flip Mino HD with me and will upload when I can...bearing a "sober" me the next morning..

I will, I promise.. in this thread. Give me a few days, considering most of my days, though lax'ed, consist of teaching high school kids and shopping about, exploring new foods and shops. I will, I promise..

v66jack said:
Hello
Click to expand...


HEY HEY HEY! (..From Xingtai, China (Currently))


ravenvii said:
Are you non-Asian by race? If you are, then why are you wasting your time here? Go bed some hot Asians!
Click to expand...


Not asian at all.

Last time I was in China I hooked up with an asian girl in Tokyo after our flight was delayed..........and it was heavenly. Currently i'm attempting to go for this asian girl, aged 22, same age as I, though the language barrier is a barrier indeed. We'll see how it goes. :cool:
 
Found a photo of the OP
homer-drunk.jpg
 
What'd it end up costing you to make that trip? What did you do with your belongings back home?
 
HappyDude20 said:
Last time I was in China I hooked up with an asian girl in Tokyo after our flight was delayed..........and it was heavenly. Currently i'm attempting to go for this asian girl, aged 22, same age as I, though the language barrier is a barrier indeed. We'll see how it goes. :cool:
Click to expand...

...

So you did go.

And they are sending you back home next month already?

3 month tourist visa eh?

How's the illegal English job?

FTR you aren't very isolated, if you have a KFC in town and only 30 miles from McDonalds. I was the sole foreigner in my town for two years when I first came to Japan, and the sole foreigner within a 50km radius. Closest KFC was three hours away, by car, or 4.5 by train. Closest McDonald's was about an hour and fifteen minutes by car. There were literally zero people between the ages of 18-40, and that truly wasn't an exaggeration, like I thought it was before I had come. In my two years, I can count on two hands the number of young people I saw in my town, all of which were guys btw, if that makes you feel any better. There wasn't even a bar; well, there was an old izakaya (Japanese pub/restaurant) but it had seating for five and it was the same 4 drunks off the fishing dock every single night, literally, and closed at 10:30 PM. The owners were nice though.
 
Last edited:
rdowns said:
He probably passed out. :p
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Oh man I knocked out last night. After drinking, I went upstairs to my room and woke up this morning with my MBP right next to me, yet don't remember making a couple of Skype phone calls that show'd up in my history log. http://images.macrumors.com/vb/images/smilies/tongue.gif

iJohnHenry said:
As a connoisseur of all things alcoholic, what were you drinking, rice wine??

And if so, was it hot when served?
Click to expand...

Bai Jaio. (Spelling?) Yes, it was rice wine, which if you know, the Chinese interpretation of "wine" is not wine at all, but rather more of liquor. "Bai Jaio" is dirt cheap, at about 35 cents for a small bottle, and about 70 cents for a bigger bottle. All of which is about 80+ Proof, but tastes horrible. Then the prices can vary up to regular U.S. prices, considering there are so many different income levels in China, and am assuming all classes like to drink.

It can be served hot though its gonna taste horrible either way. We also had beer, but bear in mind the beer is very weak. Consisting of about 2.5% alcohol for a big bottle, Chinese people seem flummoxed every time they see my buddy and I drink 3-5 of them with ease. Then again, most of the Chinese business men we've gone out to dinner with are somewhat smaller in stature.

GFLPraxis said:
What'd it end up costing you to make that trip? What did you do with your belongings back home?
Click to expand...

Before leaving I did a complete sweep back home of everything I did not need. Clothes I didn't need I donated or threw away. Electronics were all giving to my folks, such as the iPad, Printer, etc. At my aunt's home, I left 2 boxes with my important files...considering her home's garage is like the haven of keeping things safe.

I came with my buddy wanting to get away from it all, and its worked out wonderfully. We're both aware that when we return back home we're gonna miss it. We're easily gonna miss living together in a nice big house (of which we totally lucked out on), and being able to drink and party every night. When we return back home i'll be moving away to University, set to study for the next 2 years.

Big D 51 said:
Funny thread. Your brave. Enjoy your visit. Keep us posted.
Click to expand...

I woke up feeling like crap. I took a taxi to the other side of this dusty town and purchased a big bowl of fried rice (w/ carrots, cucumber, egg and chicken mixed in) for 4 yuan; or 61 cents. Then I walked about in these random shops where the locals prepare meals out of their rusty trucks, where I had a pita type of bread, and within consisted of eggs, sausage, a peanut-like paste, hot sauce and lettuce. Not bad for another 3 yuan (45 cents).

But now i'm back home, set to knock out for a bit after surfing the web and talking to fam-fam.
 
puma1552 said:
...

So you did go.

And they are sending you back home next month already?

3 month tourist visa eh?

How's the illegal English job?

FTR you aren't very isolated, if you have a KFC in town and only 30 miles from McDonalds. I was the sole foreigner in my town for two years when I first came to Japan, and the sole foreigner within a 50km radius. Closest KFC was three hours away, by car, or 4.5 by train. Closest McDonald's was about an hour and fifteen minutes by car. There were literally zero people between the ages of 18-40, and that truly wasn't an exaggeration, like I thought it was before I had come. In my two years, I can count on two hands the number of young people I saw in my town, all of which were guys btw, if that makes you feel any better. There wasn't even a bar; well, there was an old izakaya (Japanese pub/restaurant) but it had seating for five and it was the same 4 drunks off the fishing dock every single night, literally, and closed at 10:30 PM. The owners were nice though.
Click to expand...

I flew to Beijing expecting our teaching abroad experience to indeed be illegal, however this program we're currently with is extreme in terms of being legit.

They've converted our Visas to working Visas, We've had to send in an array of documents to their program consisting of all high school and universities we've attended, as the program we're with sends it to the schools we teach...and in turn they send it to a governmental program that I believe provides funding for the foreign teachers to be here.

In terms of this city itself, I have mixed feelings. People in China all tell us this is considered a small city. But according to Wikipedia and a few other sources (it greatly varies), i'm told there are anywhere from 1.2 to 5 million people living in this city. The city itself is huge...like, HUGE. But its obvious this whole place is under construction. Buildings are being erected by the dozens, by the month...and I can easily see the wide spectrum of wealth and poor Chinese people here. The rich take their kids to KFC nightly, while the poor are extremely frugal with their pocket change. The school I teach at, the kids have money, easily. They have rich parents allowing them to go to a public school that provides housing...

I've stumbled upon two different gyms in the city; both of which look very similar and have about the same amount of exercise equipment..though the monthly prices vary from $15 to $100 a month.....with of course the reason by exclusivity. The rich wear Adidas, and the rest wear the Chinese brands. . . But I digress.

In terms of this being desolate China, it is not. But last time I was here in Xiaoshan (2 1/2 hours south of Shanghai) was more packed than this. This time around it seems like I'm seeing China building itself into the Americanized ways it thinks it needs to go... and there is no stopping it. Yet, its very dusty and dirty. Hand Sanitizer doesn't work here it seems.

Oh! the program we're with even took us to a hospital to get a complete physical done. We drove an hour into the capital city of Hebei to get all these things done, including get blood drawn.....which was scary considering I never thought i'd use a needle in China.
 
HappyDude20 said:
They've converted our Visas to working Visas
Click to expand...

Ina Garten voice: How quick was that? ;)
Your outfit obviously have the ear(s) of the right officials.

HappyDude20 said:
Oh! the program we're with even took us to a hospital to get a complete physical done. We drove an hour into the capital city of Hebei to get all these things done, including get blood drawn.....which was scary considering I never thought i'd use a needle in China.
Click to expand...

The HIV test is mandatory for a working visa.

Good luck. Enjoy the life out there — you can never travel too much.

However, do try and look at all these "Asian" (I assume you mean Chinese?) women as persons and not just objects to have sex with…
People may not show they are offended, but before you know it you will be treated as just another Yank over there to screw the locals.
 
puma1552 said:
LOL @ the needle comment.

What's the name of the program you are on?
Click to expand...

ChinaESL; Division of Hebei Province in accordance w/ the ministry of Education.....

Something like that, in Chinese of course. lol.

arkitect said:
Ina Garten voice: How quick was that? ;)
Your outfit obviously have the ear(s) of the right officials.



The HIV test is mandatory for a working visa.

Good luck. Enjoy the life out there — you can never travel too much.

However, do try and look at all these "Asian" (I assume you mean Chinese?) women as persons and not just objects to have sex with…
People may not show they are offended, but before you know it you will be treated as just another Yank over there to screw the locals.
Click to expand...

Regarding the girls comment, I admit i'm always on the prowl, however perhaps my intentions may be filtered online when I type about it. I'm in no way a scoundrel of a dog when it comes to approaching women. Though in all honest the language barrier has been a bit factor in my current lack of meeting girls. I've attempted to start random conversation with girls out and about, and girls in department stores... while some simply don't want to deal with the hassle of attempting to communicate, while others enjoy (attempting to) speak(ing) with an American..

I've noticed the older folks, usually those 50+ will glance once at us and then turn away, not really caring...but its the young adult below the age of 25 that seem to stare in awe. Personally, i've noticed the adults, usually the parents here hate having us here. Of course this is a generalization and isn't completely true, though at least thats how it feels. At the supermarket an array of middle aged women will simply ignore me when I ask them a question. One woman even pushed (some-what violently) a shopping cart at me, just so I would get out of the way and leave her alone.

I understand at all times that I'm a visitor in their country, and must abide by their rules. Though within this past month here i've learned both amazing and sad things about the Chinese culture (at least where I'm living at). I'm an Anthropology major and firmly believe to be taking an non-ethnocentric viewpoint while living here; though I have to admit that at times (many times) I can't help but count my blessings I grew up in America.

*I accidentally put my digital camera in the wash, so now only have my Flip Mino HD with me. I have tons of video, I just have to open iMovie and upload to YouTube.
 
HappyDude20 said:
I've noticed the older folks, usually those 50+ will glance once at us and then turn away, not really caring...but its the young adult below the age of 25 that seem to stare in awe. Personally, i've noticed the adults, usually the parents here hate having us here. Of course this is a generalization and isn't completely true, though at least thats how it feels.
Click to expand...

Trust me the older folks wish you would just leave and go back to America.

I am glad you are having a good time ... it is nice to gain experiences like this that will last your whole life.

be safe
 
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